Terra Cotta Army from China

In March of 2018 I took my Mom to see the Qin Terra Cotta Army. It was at the Richmond Museum in Virginia USA.

Horse chariot and rider

This is from the Tomb of Qin Shi Huang...the first Emperor of China. He is credited for uniting the various states at that time into a unified country. I must say it was rather impressive. Each figure had a unique face and were all painted. Being buried for so long has of course removed much of the paint..but they are still amazing.

From Wikipedia: The Terracotta Army is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. It is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210–209 BCE with the purpose of protecting the emperor in his afterlife.

The figures, dating from approximately the late third century BCE, were discovered in 1974 by local farmers in Lintong County, outside Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. The figures vary in height according to their roles, with the tallest being the generals. The figures include warriors, chariots and horses. Estimates from 2007 were that the three pits containing the Terracotta Army held more than 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses, and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which remained buried in the pits near Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum. Other terracotta non-military figures were found in other pits, including officials, acrobats, strongmen, and musicians.

       Of course there was more than just soldiers.  Weapons, pots, precious metal utensils such as the wine flask to the left were also buried there.  I would have liked to have seen more of the soldiers, but I suppose its hard to ship all that terra cotta. All in all it was an impressive exhibit and one that my Mom and I enjoyed.